Features You’ll Find in the Latest MacBook Pro, iMac Updates

By Don Reisinger

Force Touch first appeared in the MacBook, offering a new way for users to interact with OS X. Central to that feature is a greater number of touch points to make gesture controls more accurate. In addition, Force Touch responds to how hard a person presses down on the touchpad, and applications react in proportion to the pressure. Force Touch is now available in the revamped 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple announced a new $1,999 iMac with Retina 5K. And why not? The iMac is one of the more popular desktops on the market, and a new version means customers will have ever more screen real estate to work on the platform. According to Apple, the new iMac’s screen resolution clocks in at a solid 5,120 by 2,880 pixels.

Apple has been delivering its Retina screens for years, and they’ve consistently delivered some of the best visual fidelity of any computer displays. So, it’s nice to see the Retina display make its way to the new 15-inch MacBook Pro. That said, be aware that the MacBook Pro doesn’t have the 5K screen found in the iMac, but rather the standard (but still high-quality) Retina display.

Apple’s new iMac comes with the 3.3GHz Intel quad-core Core i5 processor out of the box. The top-of-the-line model has a 3.5GHz Intel Core i5 built-in. What that means is both devices are sure to deliver high-end processing power and allow customers to handle just about any major task. To its credit, Apple is not skimping on chip technology in the new iMacs.

Apple has been investing somewhat heavily in boosting the graphical capabilities of its Mac line. As more apps come to its App Store, including video games, the company needs a bit more horsepower under the hood for customers. By boosting the graphical processing unit (GPU) performance in the 15-inch MacBook Pro, Apple can achieve that goal. The notebook has an AMD Radeon R9 M370X, which Apple says will boost rendering performance by 80 percent compared with the previous model. Not bad.

There has been no major design change in the MacBook Pro or the new iMac with Retina 5K. Apple’s designs have received high marks, so making a significant change makes no sense. Customers looking to buy the new devices should expect to find a nicely thin iMac and an aluminum unibody design in the 15-inch MacBook Pro. All in all, the Mac line will be as nice looking as previous versions.

Apple has been relatively stable with its product pricing for the last several years, and it has been able to increase its margins on the products by reducing its component costs and maintaining its price levels. Apple’s higher-end iMac with Retina 5K now starts at $2,299, a reduction of $200 compared with the previous model’s pricing. The $1,999 MacBook Pro, meanwhile, is in-line with the company’s other pricing in its higher-end notebook line.

Apple will more than likely announce the new OS X at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Therefore, the company has reassured customers that the new iMac and MacBook Pro units will work fine with the new platform. When enterprise customers know a new operating system is coming, they tend to hold off on buying computers to find out whether the systems can hold up with the new platform. Apple is actively trying to allay fears to appeal to customers.

For several months, rumors have been swirling suggesting Apple is going to bundle its Touch ID fingerprint sensor into its MacBook Pro units. However, Apple has yet again let folks down. Neither the iMac nor the new MacBook Pro comes with a Touch ID sensor, which means those hoping for the technology will need to wait a little longer.

Apple spent a considerable amount of time at a recent press conference talking about a new keyboard technology it’s built into the new MacBook. This keyboard is reputed to be more accurate than previous models, and it makes allowances for clumsy typing because when a user hits the side of a key it will to still register the correct keystroke. Apple contends this new technology will improve accuracy and help people type more quickly. There’s just one problem: So far, it’s only available in the MacBook. And Apple made no mention of the technology in its MacBook Pro announcement on May 19.